Method of making bricks and the like.



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JOSEPH WADE TUCKER, 0F KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA, AND WILLIAM A. MQCOOL, 0F BEAVER I FALLS, PENNSYLVANIA. v

esa-ass.

No Drawing.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

A. MoCooL, citizens residing, respectively, at Kissinnnee, in the county of Osceola and State of Florida, and Beaver Falls, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Bricks and the like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method or process forproducing bricks, blocks or the like, for paving or other purposes, and has for its object to provide bricks or blocks of low cost, which will afford a cushioning or noise and shock deadening trafiic surface, which are sufliciently strong, durable and wear-resisting to perform their intended function in an etlicient manner, which are waterproof and durable, and which are unaffected by any degree of heat to which they are likely to be subjected, or by saline solutions, acids, or other chemical agencies, the last-named characteristic making such bricks or blocks especially suitable for paving purposes in stables, shops, and other places in which such destructive agencies are frequentlyencountered.

The foregoing and other objectscf the invention will best be understood from the following detailed description of the manner in which the same may be carried into effect.

in accordance with said invention the bricks, blocks or the like are composed of an aggregate comprising a comininuted, absorbent organicmaterial treated with a suitable substance which impregnates the same, and a binder which, under heavy pressure, unites said aggre ate into a solid mass. Said absorbent material may be any nonresinous wood but preferably consists of cypress wood, either in sawdust, this material having been found especially suitable for the purpose by reason of its cheapness in certain localities, its durability, pitch, resin or other substances which might interfere with its thorough impregnation. The substance with which said absorbent comminuted wood is impregnated, as also the binder by which it is united, are both Specification of Letters Patent:

' tillation A from 240 F. to 260 F.) by which the and its substantial freedom from METHOD OF MAKING BRICKS AND THE LIKE.

. Patented Mar. 2?, i917,

' Application filed November 20, 1918. Serial No. 132,326.

preferably derived from the heavyand otherwise comparatively useless hydrocar bon residues produced in the refining of crude mineral oils having an asphalt base, said residue comprising a mixture of asphaltums of different melting points and be ing left after the extraction from the crude oil ofv the more volatile components, such as gasolene, naphtha, kerosene, etc. These residues are subjected to a fractional dis- (preferably at a temperature of lighter components thereof are separated from the heavier, that is to say, the asphaltums .of relatively low melting point are separated from those of relatively high melting point. The comminuted wood is first soaked for a sufiicient length of time (preferably from 15 to 20 minutes) in an excess of the lighter or low melting point asphaltums, to cause the wood particles to be thoroughly impregnated with the thin or light asphaltum substance, which, of course, is in melted or liquid form. Said impregnated comminuted wood isthereafter thoroughly mixed with a sutlicient quantity of the heavier hydrocarbon material, or high to be thoroughlycoated therewith, Prefer- My only a su'tticientquantity of the heavier asphaltum is employed to coat the aggregate completely and to bind the same firmly together without excess. Suitable proportions have been found to be about 8:2 parts of the impregnated comminuted cypress wood to about'lS parts of the binder, although these proportions are capable of considerable variation. The comminuted wood thus impregnated and thoroughly mixed with the binder, by any suitable means, is molded into blocks or bricks of suitable shape and size and under a heavy pressure in a hydraulic or other suitable press of any wellknown character. 4

A brick or block made as above described hasbeen found admirably to fulfil all of the conditions, and to possess all of the desirable qualities, heretofore referred to. In order tomeet said conditions it is necessary that'the connninuted wood be thoroughly impregnated with a material which will 10% render bound afford bility and which is not readily inflammable or injuriously afiected by heat. Any hydrocarbon or other similar material capable of fulfilling the first-named conditions has been foimd in practice to be too light to form a sufliciently strong binder to provide the necessary strength and durability; On the other hand, it has also been found in practice that any hydrocarbon heavy enough to serve as a suitable binder is too heavy to penetrate the pores of the wood, but merely coats the surfaces of the particles of the aggregate and binds them together. In such case the Wood particles are not properly impregnated and Waterproofed by such heavy binder. k

In the bricks or blocks above described the lighter asphaltums serve effectually to impregnate and-Waterproof the comminuted Wood, while the heavier asphaltums serve as a highly efficient binder. Moreover, it is found that, when the impregnated com.- minuted Wood is mixed with the binder and subjected to pressure, such lighter and heavier asphaltums display a strong aflinity for. one another and recombine to from a more or less homogeneous compound entirely permeates the aggregate and binds the same together; which is strong and durable; which is capable of resisting a heat of 200 F., or more; and WlllChlS not afiected by saline solutions, acids, or other destructive chemical agencies.

The terms bricks and blocks? as herein used are to be taken as broad and general in their meaning and to include paving or structural elements of any form or size suitable for the uses to which they are to be-put, and capable of being manufactured as above described.

The product of the method or process above described, is not herein claimed but forms the subject-matter of another appli-' cation filed by us simultaneously herewith, "No. 132,325.

Having thus described our invention or mass, under heavy pressure,

which discovery-we claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent:

1. The herein described method of making bricks, blocks, or the like, which consists in impregnating a comminuted non-resinous wood with a relatively light hydrocarbon material and uniting the same into a solid by means of a relatively heavy hydrocarbon material.

2. The herein de'scribedmethod of making bricks, blocks, or the like, which consists in impregnating comminuted cypress "wood with a relatively light hydrocarbon material and uniting the same into. a solid mass, underheavy pressure, by means of a relatively heavy hydrocarbon material.

3. 'The herein described method of making bricks, blocks, or the like, consisting in 1mpregnating comminuted cypress. wood with a relatively light asphaltum residue of mineral oil, and then forming the impregnated material into solid form, under heavy pres-. i

sure and by means of a relatively heavy asphaltum residue of mineral oil.

4. The herein described method of making bricks,

from .each other the relatively light and the residue of a mineral oil having an asphalt base, and from which oil the most volatile components have previously been extracted, soaking comminuted cypress Wood in said lighter asphaltums to impregnate the same therewith, mixing the impregnated comminuted wood with said heavier asphaltums, and-uniting the whole under pressure into a solid mass, said heavier and lighter asphaltums recombining to' form an approximately I homogeneous compound which entirely permeates the wood particles and. acts as a binder tberebetween.-

tures.

JOSEPH WADE TUCKER. WILLIAM A. MoOOOL.

blocks, or the like, which consists in v separating heavy .asphaltums constituting In testimony whereof we affix our signa- 

